weekend

When I arrived at the Paramount Friday afternoon, there were about 20 people in line ahead of me waiting for the Harry Potter movie. The line grew quickly, a mixture of adults (many more than I expected!) and kids. I had brought my laptop, and worked on my article writing as I waited.


Check the this message board for my review, and the reviews/comments of others who went to see the movie. Warning: many spoilers!!


In the evening, Amanda came over a visit. We rehashed Harry Potter (she had just seen the movie) and then watched some of the American version of Iron Chef. I didn't like it NEARLY as much as the original version. In the original, Chairman Kaga manages to be over-the-top theatrical while maintaining a level of seriousness that keeps you laughing and fascinated at the same time. William Shatner is pure camp. In the original (or the North American version of the original), the voiceovers of the judges as they taste the results is much more funny and interesting because of the translation effects. In the new version, it's relatively dull.


Plus the American version judges all seemed to be afraid of saying anything negative. Everything was good, everything was tasty. There was no one like the older woman judge in the original, with her blunt arrogance and unpredictability (sometimes known as the East German judge, if Kishi Asako doesn't like your dishes, it's likely you won't win).





Jeff was in London, ON yesterday, so I spent most of the day working on my articles, doing a closet purge (switching from summer to winter clothes, taking older stuff I don't wear anymore and either tossing it or packing it up for Goodwill) and e-mail purge (I had over 1200 emails in my Inbox, and dealt with ALL of them, HAHA! I'm actually caught up in my email!!). I have no lengthy trips planned, so hopefully I won't fall as far behind in my e-mail again.


Went out with Craig late yesterday afternoon to discuss a project. Craig's the editor of MapArt, by the way. And MapArt, of course, is the best map-making company in North America. The project we're working on is partly fun, partly work...my particular contribution gives me a chance to start prep for my next novel. More details available when Craig gives me the okay. :-)


Jeff was home when I got back, but was too tired to do anything like see the Harry Potter movie (yes, I wanted to see it again). I worked on the computer while he napped (stay tuned for a Dandelion Report interview with Bob Kanefsky by Rand soon!). In the evening, we watched "Rocky" on television...it's been ages since I've seen that movie; I'm not sure if I ever saw it in theaters, just on the tv screen. I was mainly interested in seeing if I could recognize any Philadelphia locales. And I did! In one of the early jogging scenes, Rocky jogs right through my old neighbourhood near Broad and Locust.





Blatherpics:


- Line-up at the Paramount theatre for the Harry Potter movie. My laptop marks my place in line.


- My friend Craig, yesterday.


- Andrea and Nicholas, during my visit to Cincinnati last month. Andrea had this cool child-sling-carrything to carry him around in. Geez, wouldn't it be great if there was an ADULT size sling-carrything? Look how comfortable Nick looks in this photo. Don't think I could get anyone to carry me around like that, but maybe I could suspend it from the ceiling in my office...


Today's Poll: (Suggest a question)

Do you like seeing trailers before a movie, or do you wish they would just go straight to the movie itself? (YES for trailers, NO for just the movie)